Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond down found tunnels dug

Hello all,

I have an old pond with some major issues. For the last 8 months or so the pond has been way down. We really thought it was from the lack of rain. Well we have had some pretty good rain storms the last few weeks and the pond has not really come up much. So I went on an investigation today. I found some issues. I found a tunnel that goes from the pond underground over to a creek. This tunnel is about 10 foot long and is under about 3 foot of ground. I believe this is my main issue. After looking at the rest of the pond there is several more tunnels but they don't go all the way through. This is in an area with a lot of trees. I can barely walk back there let alone get any equipment back there.

How do you fill a hole like that? If I shove dirt in there it will just wash back out, If I dig from the top down 3 foot deep 10 foot long by hand and fill it in with clay by hand will it do any good? That will take awhile. The idea I have for now is to start from the creek side and fill the hole with quikcrete. I estimate it will take at least 20 bags. I think I can force quikcrete in there and have it run all the way over to the pond. Thus completely filling the hole with quikcrete. Is this a good idea? I could easily just cover the hole on each end but there will still be a tunnel underground.

I have some traps out for what ever dug these holes. I suspect beaver or muskrat. A few years ago they had some serious beaver issues and hired out a guy to trap them all. It seems like they may be back. If I follow the creek down about a 1/4 mile I can see some more activity from something.

Here is the creek side of the tunnel


Here is the pond side of the tunnel


Here is a picture of the creek area. Notice the trees, I can only walk to this tunnel. Really hard to get equipment in here but I think I can manage a wheel barrow and quikcrete.


Here is another picture of the wooded creek area.


Here is another area that is about 75 yards away. Something has dug this hole but they ran into some concrete that was apparently placed there several years ago. This tunnel is about 5 feet long but only has about 6" of ground on top of it. I plan to dig this one up and pour in some clay dirt.


Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

What diameter are the tunnels? 5"-6" = muskrat, 10"-14" = beaver.

Well I would say the tunnel itself is about 5 - 6 inches, but the openings are very wide, one is about 2 feet, and one is about 3 feet.

I'm dealing with that right now but they are definitely muskrats. If you can't get any machinery back there that looks tough to fix!

In my case it's a dike which I will dig a slot in the center and put in a collar -- either cement or fiberglass. Then I will dig and fill the tunnel on each side of the collar.

Well I am filling it with quikcrete today, I really have no choice, no way to get equipment back there so we are hand trailering everything in. At least there is plenty of water for the quikcrete.

That's what I would do in your situation. If you just fill it with clay or soil it would seem to me you could be looking at the same problem again.

I wonder if some fencing set just above and below the water line in any vunerable bank would prevent digging in the future after you fill the hole? Maybe weight it down with stones, or possibly you wouldn't have to if it laid on the bottom?

Well I filled with quikrete the best I could, got 4, 80lb bags in there. I filled from the creek side. I could not get it to go all the way through, but I know the hole is all the way through but it isn't straight and gets narrow then larger. I got it in there a good 3 feet.

I think the next plan on this tunnel is to rent a 2 man auger and drill a good size hole down from the top and fill in with quikcrete. Since there is quikcrete on the creek side it will run towards the pond and hopefully completely fill the cavity. I'll have to wait a few days to do this.

I hope it works out for you. I wanted to get out today and fix mine but I have deadlines to meet.

You guys are contagious. I walked out to my truck this morning to go to work and noticed something making a nice wake in the still pond. Walked closer and after a few min, up pops a muskrat head swimming away from me. Looks, like me and the 22 will be target practicing this weekend. Anyone have any good Marsh rabbit recipes?

Marsh Rabbit Recipes? Fried, Oven-Barbecue, Catawba, Baked, and meatloaf. Also goes by the trade name Maryland Terrapin......

Maryland Terrapin huh. LOL, that's a new one. Seems I was hasty in my initial id. Got a much closer look while trying to find any burrows. About 5 foot away actually, It's a beaver. What he sees in my pond I have no idea. No trees chewed yet. Think I will take a wait and see attitude before I do anything else.

I've got a bunch of recipes for them as well. I've got an old cookbook from Remington and it's amazing what N. American animals are in there!

Had it before. Pretty gamey. Really bloody and very strong tasting. But hey, I'm always up for a new game recipe so I'll let you know.

When I cooked it it tasted like beef that has sugar on it - really sweet. Maybe the trees that they were eating?

Never had the guts to try muskrat...trapped hundreds in the 70's & 80's, but had others tell me they were really STRONG and not in a good way. Kind of surprising, considering they just eat roots and plants and such...

Beaver, on the other hand...bake it low and slow like a roast, with taters and carrots, and it makes a great meal. Sliced on butter sandwiches, now that was detassling food!

Esshup,
Could have been the waters were pretty dark (tannic acid?) and their were some cypress trees they had been chewing on.

Matt,
Only someone from another corn state would understand that detassling food comment. Served with Ice tea I suppose? LOL